Mother of missing 2-year-old speaks out

RIMROCK, AZ - The mother of a 2-year-old boy who went missing from a northern Arizona campground Sunday said she is in no way connected with his disappearance and is worried about what happened to him.

"He was gone without a trace," said Charity Newton. "How are you supposed to deal with that, really?"

Sylar Newton was last seen around 12:30 a.m. when he was sleeping in a tent at the Beaver Creek Campground, nearly 50 miles south of Flagstaff.

He was staying with a friend of Charity Newton named Christina Priem, who is now Sylar's custodial parent.

"I don't know how to feel about it," Newton said. "I have moments of hope and then moments of sheer terror."

According to the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office, search teams plan to widen the scope of the search for Sylar and at least five search dogs will be part of the operation, along with several ground teams.

The FBI has also joined the investigation. However, officials have released little information about how Newton and Priem know each other.

Newton said she struggles with depression and felt her son would have a better life with Priem and her family.

Sylar went missing from a tent in which Priem, her mother Nancy Collins and Priem's 12-year-old daughter were sleeping.

Priem's 14-year-old son and a friend were sleeping in an adjacent tent. Priem reportedly discovered Sylar missing at 1:45 a.m.

Authorities are asking anyone with information in the case to contact YCSO at 928-771-3260 or through the YCSO website .